Midway (2019)

I don't typically go to movies on the war but I am glad I went to Midway. Showed both sides (American/Japanese). All of the actors were terrific-especially Quaid and Layton!

Fmovies: This remake of the original 1976 movie was much more historically correct. It was obvious that everyone involved researched and studied the history behind the greatest naval battle in history! Kudos to all the actors, directors and producers for making an entertaining and quality movie!

Midway is well made thrown back to the historical war movie epics of the 1960s and 1970s, covering a wide spectrum of elements that made up a key moment in history. It's not a perfect film, but its one of the best of its type to be made in a good long while.

What MIDWAY provides us with is an ensemble piece narrative story covering events leading up to the turning point in The War In The Pacific, which was the battle of Midway. To invest us in the characters we're shown a snapshot journey of each of their lives from just before the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 up until June of 1942 where the Japanese and American naval forces would try and surprise each other in what would be the battle of the films title. It's no easy feat to present us with a vast range of uniformed characters in the military, and get the viewer invested in them emotionally but the actors here to do well to make each of their characters stand out so when the film reaches its key climax we understand who is who and what their role is in the conflict. While some of the dialogue is obvious and overstated it serves the job with character dialogue scenes acting as segways from one historical stepping stone to the next as we follow the events that led up to the battle.

Before I delve into the main negative, I will say overall this is a great movie which could be really enhanced by an extended edition or extra running time if if there's more scenes that were cut out covering the battle of Midway itself - and if so PLEASE PUT THEM BACK IN A LONGER CUT - PEOPLE WILL BUY IT ON BLU-RAY! This is where the main problem with this film lies. Over half of its running time is dedicated to the raid on Pearl Harbour, The Doolittle Raid and the battles leading up to and including The Coral Sea, the latter of which is told pretty much in one scene and a single VFX shot (Good though it was) - Not an issue per say, as this film is not called 'The Battle of The Coral Sea' - and while some of these scenes give much context and required emotional threads for both characters and the younger audience members alike, others really didn't need to be seen in this film. It felt as if the events surrounding the Chinese assisting the Doolittle Raid survivors was probably a condition of some VFX funding tax break for the Asian based post-production budget. An allied radio report of the raid itself, perhaps being heard by the pilots of the American carriers was really all that was needed. Whatever the reason, these scenes add little to the key story or characters involved in the subsequent battle and even though they sign post the path that led to Midway, it's not something that couldn't have been covered in a single title card at the beginning of the film. The battle of Midway itself, while well realised, is told a little too quickly. The Japanese attack on USS Yorktown is again covered in a single VFX shot with one line of dialogue from an observing carrier when it could have been such a nail biting moment. The tension that is achieved in the original movie between the Naval Commanders on both sides making the tricky tactical decisions in the battle is a little compacted here. We see the last batch of Japanese pilots taking off but we don't see the outcome of this decision nor get a sense of the damage they do to the Americans. Time spent earlier in the movie building up to events at Midway would have been better spent covering the key events of the actual battle itself, which though nicely staged, feels a little rushed at times. A

Midway fmovies. I've read several of the critical reviews of "Midway"; they seem to reveal more about the cattiness of the reviewer than any understanding of the movie, or its message. I am part of the growing legion of American moviegoers who have pretty much given up on Hollywierd having any clue how to convince me to actually care enough about any of their offerings to part with the price of admission. I can wait a few months till they show up free on Youtube to confirm my suspicions that I haven't wasted my money. I made the rare exception this weekend to see "Midway", because I'm a history buff, and the previews I'd seen showed promise that the story would be properly told. That said, I went in with the full expectation that it might fail my already low expectations. Happy to say that it far exceeded my best hopes. Roland Emmerich has put together a gripping storyline that manages to get in all the important elements of an epic story in 128 minutes. For the story of the American victory at Midway is an epic tale that every American should become familiar with. Few Americans today can fathom what dire straits the US found itself in in 1942: Our battleships lay in twisted ruins on the bottom of Pearl Harbor; we had four aircraft carriers facing a Japanese navy with twelve, equipped with aircraft which were far superior to anything that was then available to American fliers; those aircraft were piloted by experienced men who had honed their craft in four years of war in China. We helplessly watched as thousands of American soldiers, sailors and Marines in the Pacific Islands and the Philippines were made captive, beyond the reach of our aid. All the Japanese had to do was to concentrate on Midway, overwhelm our inferior naval and air forces, and Hawaii and the West Coast would be wholly at their mercy. The essayist Matthew Arnold once said, "Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is all anyone needs to know about style." Emmerich follows his advice. No actors involved in "Midway" will be nominated for an Oscar. Which is another way of saying that there are no star turns which detract from telling the story. I will say that the actors are very believable in their roles; as the son of a Marine who fought in the Pacific, I found their portrayals pretty convincing. I'm firmly of the opinion that CGI effects are overused to distract from thin or non-existent plotlines. I credit Emmerich for using them to reinforce an already strong narrative. To those critics who found them overpowering, I inquire: How in hell do you think the shock of modern warfare registered on the men who actually faced it at Pearl Harbor and Midway? They called it "shell shock" for a damned good reason.

Agree with other reviewer, this is the best war movie in a long time, it went through three historical events, attack on pearl harbor, doolittle Tokyo air raid and battle of midway linked together with a human story of a dive bomber pilot, and what a great history/story telling it was. The beginning of the massive Enterprise aircraft carrier, shaking the theater with the Dolby sound has the feel of Star War IV Battle cruiser opening scene, and a tight story line and pace ensues. The CGI is the best, you don't see AT-6 Texan painted as Zero fighters, you don't see modern warships disguised as battle-hardened WW2 ones,from this point forward I predict we will see more movies with period-correct war machines. The movie has moments that make you sigh (dud torpedo that hit but didn't explode, bombs missed after pilot braved through clouds of flaks) and cheer (bulls-eyed on the giant Sun on the deck, and chain explosion of the littered ammos because of tactic confusions), this is Hollywood at its best in rare moments, no over lingering love story, no cliche stereotyped GIs, what you have are characters in a war trying to survive, trying to outsmart the other side, and trying but dying ... you can read about those three events before or after the movie, but for me, I enjoyed a great movie, finished till the credit ends and walked out feeling great, grateful and blessed as an American.

Critics are trashing this film, I went into it skeptical. After, I'm not so sure why. They tell a simplified story of the events leading up to, and eventually the battle of midway. You get to see two sides of life, the Japanese and the American forces. The script is fine, acting is pretty good in my opinion as well (shout out to Dennis Quaid, he is a great salty kinda guy). CGI was not that bad, especially for fast paced scenes. Only complaint is it is a bit long, which I understand due to how much they wanted to include. But there were 2-3 times I thought it might end, but there were still a few minutes left. In the end, a solid war movie that, in my opinion, does a great job showing some brutality of war, in addition to brothership and slice of life of the time. A solid film to honor the brave men and women that died for a better future.